What You Should Know About Traffic Collision Reports...

The Sterling Police Department will provide a operators report for anyone involved in a collision. A crash report may be download here. In the event the collision results in combined damage in excess of $1000, injury or death, A Police Officer will file the collision report. The parties may call the Sterling Police Communication Center and they will advise the parties if the circumstances of the collision will result in the response of an Officer to the collision. In the event an Officer is not sent to the collision, the drivers are still required to exchange identifying information with each other. They are also invited to file a collision report at the front counter/records division of the Police Department. Although it is recommended that all parties to the collision are present, a single party to the collision may file the report at the front counter. When a report is filed, the parties will be given a report number. The report number, called a "AC" should be reported to the parties insurance company.

The Officer will conduct an investigation of the collision. In most cases the Officer will NOT inform the parties as to the findings. In some cases, if the Officer determines that there was a violation of the motor vehicle law that caused the accident, a citation MAY be issued at the scene. The Officer also has the option of having a citation issued to the violator by mail at a later time. In extreme cases, criminal charges may be filed by the District Attorney against violators.

AFTER THE ACCIDENT

After the accident do not call the Police Department to try and get information from the report. No information can be given over the phone. The parties involved in the collision are entitled to obtain a copy of the report from the Police Department. The report will be ready in about 10 working days. The Officer must complete the report and turn it in. It is then reviewed and inserted into the main record keeping process at the Sterling Police Department. It is then available for retrieval and distribution to involved parties, and/or insurance companies. Please call 978-422-7331 prior to coming to the Police Station to make sure that the report is ready to be obtained.

HIT & RUN TRAFFIC COLLISIONS

For Hit & Run cases, do not expect any information regarding the incident for several weeks, possibly longer. When there is identifying information available on the suspect vehicle (ie: the license plate number) a letter is sent to the registered owner of the suspect vehicle requesting that they contact the Police in regards to the collision. There is then a period of time waiting for a response.

If you are contacted by the suspect or the suspect's insurance company and you have resolved the incident, please call 978-422-7331 and ask talk to the investigating officer.